I have a similar surge protector in my breaker box from when house was built.
Whole House Surge Absorber.
I just installed myself "whole house" surge protector. I've already lost garage door opener due to line spikes last winter. Siemens style panel protector takes space of two standard circuit breakers - dual circuit breaker with built in MOV type surge arresters. Taking two spaces in my panel allows to suppress voltage spikes between each phase to ground and between two phases. Installation was very simple - placing double breaker in place of two singles and connecting thick ground wire to ground bar. Two green LEDs show active protection. Siemens recommends using it as additional protection when expensive electronic equipment is involved. I have all my gear plugged into Furman Elite 20PFI conditioner that has very tight non-sacrificial surge protection. My gear (DAC+Class D amp) is powered 24/7 but I always unplug it during thunderstorms. How do you protect your gear?
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I had my entire service panel replaced about two years ago. Per his company's standard practice, the electrician put in two ground rods, located about five or six feet apart. He also installed a Sycom SYC-120/240TC whole house surge protector, which appears to be generally similar to this model except that its label indicates that it is rated for a surge current of 150,000 amps. It is mounted on the side of the breaker panel. For the audio system itself, like a number of other members here I use this Brick Wall "series mode" non-sacrificial surge suppressor/line filter. Its eight outlets are not quite sufficient for my purposes, so I use a Hammond power strip to multiply one of its outlets, plugging the less critical components into that. In addition to surge protection the Brick Wall also provides some degree of noise filtering (specs shown at the link), both on the incoming AC and between its four duplex outlet pairs. Best regards, -- Al |
Mine was $85 from Home Depot http://www.homedepot.com/p/Siemens-20-Amp-6-5-in-Whole-House-Surge-Protected-Circuit-Breaker-QSA2020SPDP/202562776 I considered this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Square-D-by-Schneider-Electric-Home-Electronics-Protective-Device-HEPD-HEPD80/203540660 but all positions in panel are used and circuit breakers are designed for one wire only - would have to pigtail it. |
I had one installed next to my 200 amp box for about $400. This will stop big hits BUT, I do say BUT, some charge will still get through before it trips. It almost never trips even if surge protectors around the house do go (they are more sensitive). However, on a big lightning strike a few years back, the whole house surge tripped and then my PS Audio Quintet fried. That's ok. I lost a $500 PS Audio to save my entire system. I recommend both whole house and individual units if your home is like mine and gets hit with surges too often. |
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